Monday, 18 February 2019

A Harare man has appeared before the court accused of selling
a matrimonial home without the consent of his former wife.

Innocent Denis George Mutsetsema was not asked to plead
when he appeared before Harare magistrate Obedience Matare.

The State led by Hatizivi Chatikobo demanded to have
witnesses testifying over the matter which was remanded to tomorrow for trial
continuation.

It is alleged that the accused person was once married to
the complainant, Margaret Rugare Tichareva and they both owned a house in
Kuwadzana.

However, Mutsetsema left the marriage for another woman
leaving the matrimonial home under the care of his ex-wife.

It is the State’s case that Tichareva stayed in the house
with her children until the death of her son which ignited a conflict between
her and Mutsetsema, who threatened to fix her by selling the house.

Reports are that Tichareva did not take these threats
seriously since the house was owned by two people, it was not possible for it
to be sold by one party. Sometime in 2007, the complainant was given a 30-day
eviction notice and advised that the house has been sold.

Upon receiving the notice, Tichareva notified her lawyer
who contested the sale of the house which Mutsetsema had done without her
consent.

The accused in the pre-trial agreed to give the complainant
50 percent of the proceeds of the sale of the house.

It is alleged that after sometime Mutsetsema went to his
ex-wife and told her that he was going to reverse the transaction of the sale
of the house hence she could proceed to renovate the house.

The court heard from the complainant that soon after
renovations, she received summons from the court and was evicted from the
house.

Tichareva told the court that she spent a lot of her
hard-earned money in renovating the house and she was hurt to think that she
was homeless now.

The State counsel however proved that Tichareva had no
legal interest in the house because it was not registered in her name but was
in the name of the accused instead.

The complainant only signed the documents of the house not
as the sole owner but as a witness hence she has on legal right to the house. h metro